Cares of the Professor
by Writing-Gecko-Girl
Summary: Five times the Doctor helped Ace, whether she liked it or not, and one time she helped him. Rating for mentions of death and rape.


I honestly think there are not enough stories stories for Ace and her 'Professor' so I wrote another one. Also, I couldn't help myself when it came to the reference about the Eight Doctor's TARDIS decor. (It's at the very end)

**One**

Ace sat down slowly at the table, still clutching her bag and jacket. The Doctor was hurrying around the small kitchen, throwing different brightly colored things into a pan. She had no idea what most if the stuff going into the pot was, but it was beginning to smell good. He was happily chattering on about what planets the various foodstuffs came from, and when he had been there, or why he should take her there.

She as trying not to enjoy herself too much, knowing that this good of an adventure wouldn't last. He came toward the table with what he claimed was milk ("not cow milk, Ace, its, well, it won't kill you") and he suddenly frowned when he saw her. He gestured with the glass to her bag and jacket, "You can sit that down, Ace." He promised, a moment later, when she still hadn't moved, he added, "I won't touch it."

She set the stuff down and took the glass as he sat in the chair next to her, "That may take a while." He said, glancing at the cooking food, "I'm not sure."

"That's alright. Professor." Ace promised.

"Rule number two, Ace." She nodded, and her continued, "Gives us time to talk! Get to know each other." Ace wasn't sure she wanted to do that, but she nodded anyway. "Perhaps," he continued, "You could tell me how a girl from Perivale finds herself on Ice World, and how she manages to survive."

Ace hadn't been expecting him to ask for a life story, but she told him what she could, while really to saying much, "I was working on a - uh."

"Yes?"

"Experiment," no need to blame her Nitro, "And then I was on Ice World. Not sure where that went wrong." She mused, "Anyway, I didn't know what to do at first, then-" here she paused again, unsure how to mention this, she plunged right in, "Glitz helped me."

"Glitz?" He seemed amazed, then curious and a little suspicious, "What did you do for him?"

Ace gulped, "Just, well, nothing much." He didn't seem convinced, but at that moment the timer he had set went off, and Ace realized must have known how long the food was going to take to have set that. Either that or the stove set it itself. (Which wasn't possible of course. Right?)

He he jumped up, rushing to the stove, "Food!" He was so comical, Ace smiled, her troubled thoughts forgotten.

They ate in relative silence, but Ace had never felt such a comfortable silence, not since Manisha left. He kept playing with the spoons, clinking them together to make music.

Finally they finished eating, and he jumped to his feet, taking the plates with him to the sink. Then he told her to follow him, and led her to a bedroom and her heart momentarily pounded out of control. Then he told her to get some sleep, he'd be in the console room if she needed anything.

"Console room? That's the one you enter through, right?"

"Ah, yes." He said. "Should be out the door, turn left, take the first left then the first right. If that's not it, or you forget, or get lost, just shout."

"I don't wanna wake you, Professor." She argued.

He seemed unconcerned, "I don't typically sleep. Not human." He smiled, then turned to leave, Ace decided she was better off not knowing. She entered her room and looked around curiously. There was an overstuffed armchair in the corner, next to a shelf of several of the most popular books of her time, across from that was a bed, several dressers, and a door she suspected lead to a bathroom.

Before she could hang her jacket on the hook by the door, or throw her bag on the chair, she felt a hand on her shoulder, she stiffened automatically. "Ace," the Doctor said gently. "I will never, never, touch you like Glitz did." Then he was gone, before she could ask how he possibly have known about that.

**Two**

It was her first real adventure with the Doctor. Sure they'd been places before, but they'd never been in tremendous danger, or been shot at. Not since Ice World. She jumped the barrier, tossed the can of Nitro-9 the Doctor was still pretending to not know she had, and dove back next to the Doctor and the others as it exploded.

"Ace!" She gasped. The Doctor shook his head in exasperation.

Then they were running, trying to get away from the enemy forces that were fleeing the explosions. Artimas, a friend Ace had made from a freedom fighter, was rushing ahead of them, her dark hair swinging. Then she was down.

The bullet had gone straight through her head, so she had to be dead, but Ace ran for her anyway. The Doctor's umbrella caught her wrist and pulled her on though, then his hand grabbed hers and he kept pulling.

Soon they were back at the base, and Ace was rushing away from the Doctor, furious. She was almost surprised when he let her go, and she didn't see him again until the fighting was over and he came to tell her it was time to go.

"Are you coming Ace?" He asked softly. She shrugged. Even with her back to him she heard him cross the grass then sit down on the log next to her, where they watched the sun rising in the distance.

"A sunrise," he said, voice still quiet. It took all of Ace's control not to say something rude at his obvious statement. He continued on, "Yet, for every sunrise, there must be a sunset." He was looking at her now, "Some, more abrupt than others."

She said nothing, but when she stood up and walked away from him, he stood and followed her.

"Ace," he whispered sadly, "Ace it's alright. There was nothing we could do." He hugged her gently, and she tolerated his caring touch. "Ace," he said a moment later, "You're standing on my feet." She took that as an excuse to pull back from the hug. He seemed sad as they trudged back to the TARDIS, and she wondered if she should have just tolerated the hug, for his sake.

**Three**

Ace woke up in a cold sweat, struggling to untangle herself from her sheets. She stood and hurried to her bathroom, splashing cold water on her face. Her heart was still hammering in her chest, and she was still shaking from the cold on that night so long ago. She remembered watching as Manisha's house burned down, standing in the cold as ambulances and police and firemen swarmed around her.

Dorothy had stood watching until her mother had come to find her, shouting and scolding as she was drug home, then sent her to her room. Her mother had never supported her after that, not that she really had beforehand. Whenever Dorothy had tried to talk to her mom about it, she had been shunned. When a friend of her mother had hinted she may need a councilor they had stopped talking to that friend. When Dorothy mentioned it at school and was sent to a councilor her mother flipped out and threatened to pull her out.

Ace had decided no one really cared, and blew up the art room so they knew she knew that.

Now Ace was standing in the bathroom, splashing cold water over her face and struggling to wake up. The nightmares had been especially bad on Ice World, where the very chill in the air itself had been a constant reminder, but since she being traveling with the Doctor they had faded, she was just too tired to dream most nights.

Giving up on the cold water, she turned the tap as hot as it would go and splashed the hot water across her face, scalding her skin. Finally the ghostly chill left her skin, and she took soap and rubbed it below her nose, trying to smell anything but the burnt wood left from her nightmare.

She leaned against the sink, panting, face red, and smelling of flowers. Burnt flowers. Ace was very nearly sick.

Still felling slightly cold she left the bathroom, found her jacket, and pulled it on over her pajamas. She curled up on her bed, pulling the blankets around her tightly, and tried to sleep. When she had the nightmare again she woke with a yell. Not realizing she had called out she rushed back to her bathroom and turned the hot water back on, splashing her face.

She heard banging on her door, "Ace!" The Doctor called, "Ace!" He sounded off. Somewhere between terror, concern, and I may break the door down if it doesn't open NOW.

She groaned, then called, "Just a sec Professor!" She wiped her face on a towel and walked to the door, opening it and letting the Doctor in. He hurried in, then placed his hands on her shoulders.

"What happened?" He asked nervously.

"I'm fine." She lied.

He didn't seem convinced, as he looked her over closely, checking for injuries. He touched her still damp face and frowned as the heat radiated through his hand, then he inhaled deeply, smelling the soap she had coated herself with. "Ace?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine." She repeated.

"Let me help. Ace, whatever it is, let me help."

She ignored him, slipping away from him to her bed, where she flopped down. He followed her and after carefully lifting her bag and setting it downing the floor he sat on the chair next to her bed. Ace risked a glance sideways at him, he was leaned forward, chin on his hands, elbows on his knees, waiting.

"Just a nightmare Professor, nothing to worry about."

He tilted his head curiously, "A nightmare that leaves you reeking of flowers and soaking wet?"

"I couldn't wake up, so I splashed water on my face. People do that you know."

"Typically not scalding hot water though." He reminded her. "But flowers?"

"I washed my hands?" Ace offered.

He still didn't believe her, she could tell that much, so she gave him a frustrated look, "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Of course." He leaned back in the chair and relaxed, with the definite air that he wasn't going anywhere.

Ace bit back a groan, mentally cursed his over protectiveness, and pulled the blanket over her head. When she woke up for the third time he was gone again, but she found him in the kitchen, making breakfast. After breakfast he told her two 'very important' things: 1- she was always welcome to talk to him and 2- they had somewhere to go.

Ace decided that she shouldn't have been entirely surprised when they ended up at Gabriel Chase.

**Four**

Ace's nose had been stuffed up for days now. Her head had begun to hurt the day before, and now her eye sight was getting blurry. It was just dumb luck then that the Doctor had decided that today was a good day to fix the TARDIS, and that Ace was going to help him. Now she was standing, her arms full of the odd tools he used, trying to hand him the correct thing at the correct time. "Pass me the tachyon sensor." He called from under the mess of wires, extending one hand so she could give him the sensor.

"What's that?" She asked, once her sleepy brain registered that she'd been asked a question.

"A green stick with a blue light on the end." He called back.

Ace hunted her pile of tools, "There are two." She informed him.

"One should say filter, the other says sensor." His fingers began to wriggle as he waited impatiently.

She studied the two tools, struggling to read the tiny print. If she admitted she couldn't see the words to give him the correct tool, he'd get suspicious and might realize she was sick. She took her best guess, picked one of the identical tools, crossed her fingers, and handed it to him.

He took the tool wordlessly and resumed his banging, but after a moment Ace saw a spark on the console. She grabbed his feet and pulled him out moments before there was a small explosion that probably wouldn't have killed him, but Ace didn't want to take that chance. Furious he looked at the tool she had handed him, it must've been the sensor not the filter (or was it the other way around) because he smacked her over the head with it. Any other time it wouldn't have hurt because he was just being playful, but with the headache and general miserableness she already was suffering from it really did kind of hurt.

She hissed and clamped a hand to her head, wincing.

"Ace?" He seemed to realize something was up, and reached to touch her head and inspect the damage he though he had caused. She jerked back and his eyes flashed with concern, "Ace?" he repeated. "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head. "No, it already hurt." She confessed.

He looked worried, "Are you hurt?" When she didn't answer he pushed, "Ace?"

"I think I have a cold," she admitted finally.

His eyes softened instantly, and he placed a cold hand to her forehead. He must've felt fever, because his frown deepened and he said, "Hospital Room, Ace."

He lead the way to the hospital room and once they were there he helped ace onto one of the beds before hunting down a sensor which he then ran across her forehead. "Viral infection." He reported.

Ace moaned, "Aww."

He gave her a sad smile, "Nothing for it I'm afraid. Not for humans, anyway. Just rest and fluids." He helped her to her feet, "Come along."

He lead her to her room, keeping a gentle hand on her shoulder. Ordinarily Ace would have protested to the over protective treatment, but today it was actually rather nice. He opened her door and pushed her to her bed, "Sleep." He ordered, "I'll check back." He added as he left.

Ace kicked off her shoes, pulled her blankets tightly around her, and fell asleep. She woke a few hours later to a cold hand on her forehead, "Tea." The Doctor helped her drink, and as she drifted back to sleep she wondered what alien drug or herb had been in it that managed to relieve her headache. When she woke up the next morning she insisted she had to get up, so they went to the library where he read the Hobbit to her, making her laugh with different voices for each character.

**Five**

Pack.

She was Pack. Where was the rest of the Pack? Her Pack. She raced down the hall, smelling for more Pack. Then she smelled it. Not-Pack. If he was Not-Pack, then he was Prey.

She rounded the corner, cutting off the easiest escape. "Ace." Not-Pack said softly, "Ace listen to me."

Pack growled, she was not Ace. Not-Pack was messing with her.

"Ace," he repeated kindly. She inhaled again, before slamming him to the wall. Not-Pack was scared, she smelled it, but he wasn't running.

"Ace." Not-Pack sounded like a broken record. _Record?_

Not-Pack wasn't Prey, she remembered that. Not-Pack was not Pack, but wasn't Prey. What was he? _Doctor. Doctor?_

"Ace let me go," Not-Pack-Not-Prey said. "Ace please." _Ace?_

She growled, he touched her nose. She swatted at him, but his umbrella blocked her suddenly. _Umbrella._

Not-Pack-Not-Prey wasn't as scared anymore, but he still wasn't running. "Ace McShane." He whispered softly. "The fiery girl from Ice World. Remember her?"

'Ice World?' Wondered Pack. _Mel. Glitz._

Pack tried to bite Not-Pack-Not-Prey, but something stopped her. 'Not-Pack-Not-Prey is friend,' she reminded herself. She took several steps back, and he followed her, matching her strides so they stayed close together. Pack should have felt threatened, but he wasn't going to hurt her. Pack knew that.

"Look at me." Not-Pack-Not-Prey urged.

It was Pack who looked into the Doctor's eyes, but it was Ace McShane who buried her face in his shoulder. "What have I done?" She whispered. He said nothing, but he wrapped his arms tightly around her and held her close enough to hear his double heartbeat and feel the chill of his alien skin.

"We'll fix it Ace." He promised after a while. "We'll fix it."

**Bonus**

Ace walked slowly thought the TARDIS, checking in all the open rooms for the Doctor. "Professor?" She called, "Professor?" She repeated.

She hadn't seen him in nearly twenty-four hours, which worried her. He almost never failed to miss a meal (especially not three in a row) and he never missed dinner, after which they sat in the library and played chess or checkers or an alien game. "Doctor?" She had finally gone looking for him when he missed dinner for the second time.

She looked up at the celling of the hall, "Could you find him for me?" She snorted, "Must be bonkers if I'm talking to a ship!" She grumbled. The next thing she knew she'd walked into a wall she was fairly sure hadn't been there before.

She continued down the hall, deciding to pretend that hadn't happened, when she noticed that when the wall shifted a new door had became visible. Ace looked around nervously, in all her time on the TARDIS, she had never seen that particular room, she could tell just by the door. She pressed her hand to the carved wood, inlaid with the circular symbols the Doctor claimed was a language. Then she knocked.

There was a thumping from inside, followed by footsteps. 'Well,' Ace thought, 'I've found someone.'

The door opened and the Doctor was standing there, looking dead on his feet. "Ace?" He asked tiredly.

"I didn't wake you did I?" Ace asked, "I hadn't seen you in hours."

"No I wasn't asleep. Hours you said?" His jacket and pullover were gone, his shirt was untucked, he was barefoot, and all together the least put together Ace had ever seen him.

Ace nodded, "I haven't seen you since lunch yesterday."

He seemed surprised by that, blinking against the light in the hall. "Professor are you alright?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, Ace." She wasn't sure she believed him.

"Professor." She put as much of her worry and annoyance behind it as she could.

"Fine." He replied, trying to shut the door. Ace shoved her foot in and stopped him. He glanced up at her with mild annoyance, probably too tired to feel anything stronger.

"When I first joined you on the TARDIS, you said you rarely slept." He nodded, "You can't sleep can you?" He seemed shocked she had come up with that in her own.

It took a few seconds of staring at each other through the crack in the door, before he opened it all the way, then admitted,"No." As if it hurt him to do so.

Ace wasn't sure what to do, so she asked, "Anything I can do, Professor?"

Once again he seemed almost embarrassed, "Just bad memories, Ace."

She nodded, "I didn't want to admit it," she said, "But it really did help, that night you sat with me." It was a much deeper statement than she typically allowed herself, so she added, for the sake of her pride, "A little."

He seemed to know what she was offering, "Thank you, Ace." She followed him into his room, sunk into the chair next to the bed, and fell asleep, relaxed for the first time since his disappearance. The next time she woke up there was a blanket tossed over her, and the Doctor was asleep on his bed, seeming peaceful, "Night, Professor." She mumbled, before drifting back off to sleep.

Ages later, the next time he required sleep, he mentioned it very offhandedly, and that night they both slept on the overstuffed chairs in the library. The next morning when they woke up, the whole TARDIS looked different, "Really, Professor?" Ace asked, side stepping an elaborate column, "Really?"

He was, Ace decided, completely insane.


End file.
